I’ve started a new tradition: Thank You Note Thursdays. I suppose I could send out thank you notes any other day of the week, but the “Th” that appears on my calendar serves as a good reminder to thank someone.

Here are the rules of my tradition:

1.     Have a running list of people you need to thank. This is easy to accomplish through the “tasks” function of Outlook, GCal, or probably any other online calendar you’re using. If it helps, move these tasks onto the next Thursday on your calendar. But you may be asking yourself, who do I need to thank? Well, just ask yourself these questions:

·         Who has gone out of their way to make me feel welcome and show me the ropes if I’m in a new job?

·         Who have I had to make a last-minute request of?

·         Who have I asked the impossible of?

·         Who have I learned an important lesson from?

·         Who do I see working really hard and may not be getting enough appreciation for it?

·         Who helps me do my job better?

2.     Do it first thing in the morning. Of course, you could sit down and write out thank you notes any time of day, but in the morning, there tend to be fewer distractions in my work environment. And this way, you know you won’t get to the end of the day and have to tell yourself, “I’ll do it tomorrow.” I believe in the power of doing the important tasks first and thanking people who need to be thanked is an important task.

3.     Be sincere. You don’t need to use overly flowery language or ask anyone if they ever knew that they were your hero, and, in fact, the wind beneath your wings. However, you should let people know the positive influence they’ve had on your life and your work. Don’t you like to know when you’ve made a difference?

4.     Be the one. I read somewhere that for every one piece of feedback that you get, there are 500 other people who feel the same way but said nothing. For instance, lots of people read blogs (like this one!), but most do not leave any comments. (I must confess; I am guilty of this myself.) However, that one person who does leave a comment is speaking for countless others who feel the same way, but don’t speak up. By sending someone a thank you note, you are that one person who is representing so many other people who appreciate someone, but are silent. Be the one.